Health & Safety

Violence Prevention

This curriculum provides employees with education and tools to prevent, defuse and deal with potentially violent situations to reduce the risk of injury and ensure employees feel safe in their workplaces.

There are 1,000 pharmacists who provide service in the BC public health sector. The combined total straight-time (not including overtime) hours of work is equivalent to 800 full-time employees. The majority of pharmacists work in acute care facilities (95.2 per cent).

Demographics
The average age of a pharmacist is 42.3 years, which is more than it was in 2009 (41.6 years). Approximately 18.6 per cent of pharmacists are now 55 years or older, an increase from 2009 when 14.9 per cent of pharmacists were over age 55.
Employees by Age Group (2009 vs. 2013)

Wages and benefitsThe average annual compensation for one full-time pharmacist is $121,600 or $64.73 per hour, including wages and benefits. Since 2005, pharmacist wages have increased by 28.9 per cent while the rate of inflation (BC Consumer Price Index) during this period was 10.0 per cent.

Wage Settlements vs. Inflation (BC CPI 2005-2013)

Compensation breakdown for a full-time pharmacist (2013)

Overtime and sick leaveSince 2009, pharmacists have worked an average of one-half hour of overtime per week. Paid sick leave for pharmacists has fluctuated between six and seven days of paid sick leave over the past five years.